The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-12
SOME BALLOON STORIES.
Thrilling Experience of Professor King
and the WiSeS.
From, the Philadelphia Times.

| A. King Is now IN his SlXtleCn year. Slnce
| 1851 he has been a practical aeronaut, max
| ing his first ascension in the summer of that
year from the old Geological Garden, in
! Paramount Park. Since then he has made
286 aerial voyages and a great many lesser
ascensions. His wife, who is quiet, modest
| little woman, has made number OF ascen-
| sions with him and regards ballooning
much safer mode of travelling than carriage
| riding. She is afraid of horses, but doesn't
mind taking jaunt through the air mile
or so above the earth. In one of her trips
she once had a narrow escape 1t was two
| years ago, at Indianapolis. After remark
ably pleasant ascension the balloon in de-
| scending suddenly swayed when near the
| earth and caught in a dead tree. The sharp
branch ripped the balloon open, causing it
TO collapse, and landing the basket in which
she and her husband sat in fork of the
| tree, sixty feet from the earth As quick as
thought Prof King braced the basket with
| a rope, until he had cut the balloon away,
| then, dropping another rope to some farm
| hands, he looSened the basket and was low
| cred over limb to the earth. Neither be
| nor his wife received a scratch.
The only time he was ever hurt was in an
ascension from Augusta, Ga. When he de-
| scended the balloon caught on dead pine
and was torn He attempted to descend
| by the drag rope, when the balloon collapsed
| and came down with crash, badly bruis-
| ing, but otherwise not hurting him. Some
Of his voyages, however, have been exceed
| ingly perilous.
| SOME THRILLING VOYAGES.
On Oct. IA, 1878, he went up from Scran-
| ton, got caught in a wind storm and came
| down at Oak Station, Montgomery county,
| l4O miles from the starting point, the whole
| trip consuming but two hours. On Oct. 10,
| 1881, he made his memorable ascension from
Chicago with Bashagen, of the Signal Ser
vice Bureau. He was up nineteen hours,
| and descended in the Wisconsin wilderness,
where he and his comrade lost their way,
and suffered terribly before they again
came in contact with civilization. The bal
| loon he used in that trip is the one he will
| make his ascension in to-day.
| One night he was suspended between sky
and earth for thirteen hours over the Maine
and Canada wilderness. His experience
| that night was thrilling and remarkable.
| The ascension was made at 4 p. m. at
! Plymouth, n. H., his companion being Lu-
Their (. Holden, of the Boston Journal For
| six hours they hung over a mile above the
wilderness, the balloon not losing foot of
gas or the car an ounce of ballast. When
they landed next morning they came down
at the head of new railroad which was
| being constructed $50 miles below Quebec,
| near the Gulf of st. Lawrence, over which
| they had spent portion of the night. The
road was 200 miles away from any other
road or civilization. They rode to Quebec
on a blackboard, driven by a French Cana
| dian. Mr.. Holden always attributed their
| lucky descent to an interpoSition of divine
| providence.
In an ascension he made in August, 1875,
| from Burlington, Ia, he was caught in a
| thunderstorm, and came near being struck
| by lightning. The expansion of the air
acted on the balloon and drove the gas from
the neck onto his head and through the open
| valve with terrific velocity He had thrill
ing descent through the clouds, and on
| reaching the earth went crashing through
| trees, landing twelve miles from where he
| assembled, having been driven back by the
/ storm. The whole trip consumed three
| quarters of an hour.
AN AERIAL BRIDAL TRIP.
On the Fourth of July of the same year
| he took n party of seven, including two
| bridal couples, over Lake Erie from Cleve-
| land The balloon sailed over the lake to
Buffalo, where it struck back current and
| returned, passing Cleveland, gradually ap-
| preaching the Canada shore, which it struck
| at Point au Pele 1t then crossed a strip of
| Canada and thirty-five miles of Lake St
| Clair, landing eleven miles from Port Huron
at midnight, having made $50 miles in thir-
| teen hours.
On another Fourth of July he took five
| newspaper men from Buffalo to Quinton,
| n. j. He crossed the Alleghenies and fol-
| lowed the Susquehanna as far as Havre de
! Grace, took a sharp turn and sailed due east
across Delaware into New Jersey, the whole
| trip taking thirteen hours Notwithstand-
ing his vast experience and many exploits,
the Professor is a modest man, and will
make no promises about his trip to-day. He
says it all depends on the elements, and that
he will do his best to make grand success
of the ascension.
| THE WISE FAMILY.
Prof. Charles Wise, under whose direc-
ton the 'lndependencen will be sent I'D, is
the son of the late Prof John Wise, Sr.,
who was lost while making an aerial voy-
| age He made his first ascension thirty
seven years ago, when but Is years of age,
at Shannandale Springs, w. Va. He went
up two and one-half miles and staid up
three hours, landing sixty-six miles from
the starting point, to which place he re-
| turned i'll an OK cart. Four years later he
made an ascension from Newburyport, Mass.
on the occasion of a civic celebration. The
wind was blowing toward the ocean and the
committee offered to pay the price of the
ascension rather than take any risks, but
after consulting with his father he decided
to make the ascension. After going up
$4,000 feet very rapidly and descending still
more rapidly he struck Plum Island bar As
grapple the only alternative was TO jump
out of the car. This he did, landing safely
in the sand.
The balloon, lightened of its load, shot into
the air and blew out TO sea. The next morn
ing it was picked up by a whaler 900 miles
away and brought into Provincetown. The
whole ascent and descent occupied one-half
| hour. The sailors on the whaler, when they
saw the balloon floating in the water thought
it was an immense blubber and harpooned
it. 1t Immediately collapsed and was taken
on board, the Newburyport papers of the
previous day being found in the car. The
| professor has been ever since actively engag-
ed as an aeronaut, and at various times
has taken up every member of his family,
having in thirty-iive years made over 300
ascensions. His son, Jonn, Jr., who will
take up the Independence today, made
his first ascension at the age of s, with his
grandfather.
CAUGHT IN A SNOW STORM.
One of the most notable ascensions that
has ever been made was made by him, under
the direction of his father, at Waynesburg,
! Greene county, when he was only II years
old. After working a half day at initiating
the balloon, the supply of gas gave out
when the balloon was only half full. The
balloon refused TO ascend with the boy,
when his father decided 10 do "A thing that
! has never before or since been attempted.
! IIN emf tho 1nnor bnlF Of bo balloon nR